Will steam locomotives come back?

Question

Trains were converted from steam to diesle-electric power a long time ago because diesle was more efficient. Now that the price of oil has trippled over the past four years, do you think coal burning steam engines will be in use again?

Answer 1

Not much chance. Wood and coal have gone up all so. And steam power is not that efficient  

Answer 2

There was some talk about this in the 1980s, but it didn't happen.  One reason is that steam locomotives are maintenance-intensive.  You have to continually fill them with water, and do a lot of hard scheduled maintenance.

I do think that electric engines may stage a revival, at least on routes that warrant them.  It's been happening in some parts of the world.  Electric engines are environmentally friendly, and the electrical generating station can, at least in theory, chose from a variety of power sources to make the electricity, including hydro, solar, coal, wind, etc.

Answer 3

much more likely you'll see a nuclear powered bolier on a train than a bolier run on wood or coal

Answer 4

No. I really doubt it. They will just make the diesle-electics even more efficient. They are pretty efficient already actually.

Answer 5

The short answer is no.  As Don said, steam locomotives are just far too maintenance intensive to be ever be used in main line freight service again, even with the rise in oil prices.  What makes steamers so costly to maintain is not just the slower transit times in comparison to diesels for refueling and general maintenance, they also require many more hours to overhaul and keep online, shooting up the cost of labor.

If oil prices continue to rise with no end in sight then you most likely would see the major Class I railroads consider electrifying sections of their key main lines (a last resort at that) before they would ever heavily invest in new steam technology.

Answer 6

The unfortunate answer is no, steam will not be returning to the rails.  As several of the other folks have pointed out its a matter of efficency in this case.

The issue is how the fuel is used.  In a Steam Locomotive you essentially have two forms of fuel, however only one is actually burned as "fuel".  

As you are aware Steam Locomotives used one of three forms of fuel, Wood, Coal or Oil.  This is because these types of fuel offer the most BTU's available to evaporate the water needed to make steam.

Hence, water being the second in the fuel element.  If memory serves me correctly the fuel to water ratio was about 14 Tons of Coal to 10,000 Gallons of water, this is merely an average just to give you an idea.

The second issue that faces Steam Locomotives is, maintenance.  The maintenance on these locomotives was unreal.  Basically at the end of nearly every run, they would need service of some type.  Whether it was refueling and watering, or service to the bearings, boiler service, you name it it had to be done.  This in turn needed the crews to perform the labor.

I belong to a Railroad Restoration Club, we have 3 operational Steam Engines, soon to be a 4th on the roster.  These are definately our clubs most popular locomotives, but their maintenance requirements keep them shopped most of the time.  And... this is with an entirely volunteer crew.  None of us get paid a dime.  You do it because you love it.

The final nail in the coffin is the pollution issue.  With the three types of fuel that are needed for these machines, the EPA would never tolerate a return to steam.

Ahh, but what about using Natural Gas, Propane, Butane, or LPG?  Its the BTU Ratio.  British Thermal Units, (BTU), are what we use to measure heat energy.  Mainly used for the boiling of water, or the cooling ratio for your A/C Units, this measurement also applies to how much fuel is going to be used to boil the water, and turn it into steam.  The bottom line is, these cleaner fuels do not supply enough sustainable heat energy to evaporate the water in the boiler fast enough to build and maintain the required steam pressure.  

Well I hope that answers your question.  Happy Rails!

Answer 7

The Argentinian locomotive designer Livia Danto Porta was a great believer in the continued use of steam locomotives and was designing modern ones right up to his death in 2003. He felt that many of the drawbacks of the steam locomotive - dirt, the need for constant cleaning out - could be solved with modern technology. There have been various plans over recent years to build express locomotives to his design, but as yet none have really got off the drawing board. But who knows in the future? For more details have a look at this page:- http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/porta.html

Answer 8

This is already happening in Eastern Europe where the price of oil is high, but local coal and lignite are much cheaper.

If the oil runs out then yes, it is a possibility in other countries as well. There are many steam locomotives preserved in working order and some intrepid people are even building new ones, like the locomotive, 'Tornado' recently completed in the UK.